Is it Comment-Able?

I didn't participate in the Blog Improvement Project during March because the topic of utilizing social media didn't interest me, but I'm back with a bang for April!

April is going to be about making our blogs more comment-friendly. Here's what Kim has to say about choosing this topic: During the goal setting project in January, a lot of people made it a goal to leave more blog comments. This is important, but I think it’s also vital that once you get a new reader at your blog it’s easy for them to engage with you by commenting on your posts.
In the last few months I've noticed a decline in comments, as some of you will remember me whining about mentioning. Jamie Harrop describes the importance of comments in his article 7 Reasons Why I Won’t Comment On your Blog.
Commenting is such an important part of blogging. It’s what often separates the blogosphere and other more traditional forms of media. And while we all set out in the blogosphere to receive visitors to our blogs, it’s comments, or the lack of them, that really worries us in those early months. “Why is nobody commenting on my blog?” is a frequently asked question in any blogosphere circle. Far more frequent than “How do I get more visitors?” and other such questions. Blogging is, after all, community based and connecting with other people and seeing them connect with us is what often drives blog authors.
In addition to Jamie's article, Kim also found 2 others that I really liked.
10 Techniques to Get More Comments on Your Blog by Darren Rose
The art of hoisting comments at Beatblogger.com focuses on journalism blogs but has a great way of giving attention to thoughtful comments.
Well, I read these articles and realized that I do many of the things they suggest. I try to reply to questions I am asked in my comments. The only time I don't is when the blogger does not have an email reply or has chosen to not show their email on their Blogger profile page. I got read of word verification and owner approval for comments. I still get the comments emailed to me, but they go up right away so others can see them and have a dialog if they'd like, and it doesn't stop anyone who can't see the word verification, like me! It's been this way for 10 months and I haven't received any spam comments. I also have my comments appear in their own window. This way visitors can see the post if they need to while writing their comment.
I like the idea of highlighting certain comments and rewarding frequent commenters, so I'm going to think about the best way for me to work those into my repertoire. Maybe a giveaway for most comments each month, responding to questions once a week in a post, something like that. All ideas and suggestions are welcome!
I also discovered 2 reasons why my comments had gone down. One is that many people are now reading the Evil Overlord in Google Reader and the other is a problem between Blogger and Internet Explorer that was giving some people a "stack overflow" message and freezing up their computers when they visited. I found out the solution to that problem is to empty your Temp Internet folder. Or switch to Firefox as your browser.
I hope I can make my blog more comment-able. I blog for fun, and one of the things that makes it fun is getting interesting comments that teach me something, ask me questions or tell me things about the commenter, so I am truly meeting people and becoming part of a community.
If you are looking for great ideas for improving your own blog, I highly recommend visiting Kim @ Sophisticated Dorkiness where she has all of the topics and articles listed. You can join in on the Blog Improvement Project at any time, or opt out of any topics that hold no interest for you.